Dear California Senate Committee on Appropriations,

<p>Many California communities host Department of Defense installations and have infrastructure projects within their jurisdiction that also benefit the military installation. These communities can request and compete for federal funding for qualified projects under the Department of Defense’s Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP).</p> <p>However, there is a matching funds requirement that many communities need help reaching. The Department of Defense cannot fully fund these projects as they are not located on military installations, and AB444 closes the funding gap by creating the California DCIP.  These projects benefit both our local military and the communities hosting the installations.</p> <p>AB444 will help increase federal funding into our communities for much-needed infrastructure projects. Winning Federal DCIP grants is great for the base-hosting community but equally important to all of California, as the inflow of Federal dollars helps with infrastructure resiliency projects.</p>